…and we’re back…again. This time for reals.

Did you know that we started MtnBikeRiders.com 8 years ago! Yep! We sure did and I have to be honest with you, we’ve had our better years and as each year passes, it’s become a bit harder to maintain this website. Not that it’s hard to manage it, but it’s because life changes. For starters, my career has taken off in a direction than I wasn’t expecting. Then my kids have gotten older, one is College aged, while the other is applying for Colleges and the youngest will be entering high school this fall. So to say the least, things have changed.

This doesn’t even involve the Staff Writers who have come through the halls of MtnBikeRiders.com. For the most part we’ve had some great guys come write for us and a few flakes that promised me the world but could only muster up one article or none at all.

Oh and did I tell you about the fact that I’m getting old…yep. I’m officially old. How do I know this? Well around May of last year I started experiencing knee pain. I figured I was just riding too much and so I took it easy on the bike. I even wore knee braces to see if it would help. Eventually the pain was too much and I finally saw a doctor. He did a battery of tests to see what’s up with my knees. He came to the conclusion that it was Arthritis.

I was seriously bummed out because the pain had become so unbearable that I literally stopped riding. I’d be fine the first 2-3 miles, but once I passed a certain threshold, shooting pain would hit BOTH of my knees. At that point I just gave up. I even started selling my bikes, my gear and got more into motorcycles. I rode my motorbikes because it offered some of that same exhilaration as mountain biking, sans the pain.

So around Interbike 2014, Art and I went to the show to check it out. We saw some cool stuff but it was hard for me to really get into it since I haven’t been riding much at all. Since I wasn’t riding, I gained some weight, which made me even more bummed out because I couldn’t ride or even go for long walks without pain.

Towards the later part of the year I started upping my dosage of pain meds. I even started using CBD oils for the inflammation in my knees and back. I forgot to mention that my back and shoulders have started to become a daily pain-involved nuisance. The pain started to become more manageable and that’s when I decided to buy myself a new bike. It’s been a while since I’ve actually gone to an LBS and purchased a bicycle. I went with something completely different. I figured I’d get my mojo back with a Moto, Electra Moto that is.

 

 

Low and behold, I found that riding the moto was good for my Mojo! I then decided that I wanted to start riding again. But before I could do that, I have to follow a quick routine to help me get through my ride; 2 capsules of Naproxen and one can of Redbull. I found that this was the prefect combination of energy and pain killers.

LadyP and I loaded up our bikes and headed to Whiting Ranch. The Fullerton Loop is about a mile away, but we wanted to mix things up a bit and we figured the climb up Mustard would do the trick. The photo below shows my facial expression that states “everything hurts!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s LadyP coming down Cactus…I think that’s what this trail is called. It’s been so long since I was last here.

 The ride was great, but it did expose that I am WAY out of shape and my skill set is a bit rusty. I know a bit more riding will help remedy those issues. As for my knees…12 hours later they’re doing well!

At the end of my ride, I noticed something, I think I blew my shock. This thing was leaking oil…

So now you know what’s been going on, let’s hope that we can keep this place alive. We plan on posting more reviews and articles in the next few days. By the way, Happy New Year!!!